LIVE FROM COMMUNICASIA, SINGAPORE: Social networking platform LinkedIn urged companies to develop a business strategy for the digital age, and go beyond the basics of just hiring a social media team.

“It’s not one group of people who sit in the cool corner in the office. It means every division and every team knows how to use social technology. And there needs to be a business strategy influencing the topic,” said Hari Krishnan, LinkedIn’s MD for Asia Pacific, at the keynote this morning.

Employees at socially engaged companies are 57 per cent more likely to leverage social media to drive sales and the company is 58 per cent more likely to attract top talent, according to LinkedIn data.

Being more effective in selling and attracting talent are the fundamental elements of success, he said. “If you can attract the very best people, you win — it’s as simple as that. In the digital age by hiring the best you can change your products, systems and processes. It all starts with people.”

The percentage of CEOs who are engaged online and via social has risen from 36 per cent in 2010 to 80 per cent.

He said that because word-of-mouth recommendations are so important – according to Nielson 84 per cent of consumers say they trust them over any form of advertising – it gives organisations the opportunity to create an army of influencers.

“If you can create a culture that encourages employees to talk about what they are passionate about at your company, you can tap into a new asset and amplify your voice.”

With an estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day, he said there is huge scope to use smart data to connect to new opportunities.

He urged companies to find ways to leverage data that in the past hasn’t been accessible or under their control. “Digital technologies are making new data sets available, which will allow you to make far more intelligent decisions.”

He described as “shocking” the number of companies that make investment decisions without understanding the talent pool, when that information is now readily available.